Amazon screws up bag promotion... again! July 17, 2019 6:19 PM Subscribe
18 years ago, Amazon messed up a promotion and sold $350 cameras for $40 – engendering a legendary MeFi in-joke.
On Monday, they did it again – adjusted for inflation!
This one has a front-page post now too, courtesy of ardgedee!
posted by nicwolff at 6:54 PM on July 17, 2019
posted by nicwolff at 6:54 PM on July 17, 2019
Optical algorithm allocates an array of errant accounts accruing Amazon angst.
The robotic lens grinder guild has recently vacated the Bern office.
The optics cartel is petrified.
No statement from the robotic sub orbital Spacecraft.
posted by clavdivs at 8:03 PM on July 17, 2019 [5 favorites]
The robotic lens grinder guild has recently vacated the Bern office.
The optics cartel is petrified.
No statement from the robotic sub orbital Spacecraft.
posted by clavdivs at 8:03 PM on July 17, 2019 [5 favorites]
Some of the comments in that original post are wild. My favorite was the guy commenting that if you were a Christian and you took advantage of this mistake you were going to hell. Wow.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 8:25 PM on July 17, 2019 [13 favorites]
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 8:25 PM on July 17, 2019 [13 favorites]
I call fake, they probably did it deliberately as a birthday present to Mefi.
posted by vrakatar at 9:13 PM on July 17, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by vrakatar at 9:13 PM on July 17, 2019 [10 favorites]
About two years ago they had some Lego Millenium Falcon that's normally $200 for $50. I ordered it, told friends who ordered it. My order got cancelled. My friends got it. I mean the justice is I stopped using Amazon and spending more money than I needed.
But. A soul still burns...
Some of the comments in that original post are wild. My favorite was the guy commenting that if you were a Christian and you took advantage of this mistake you were going to hell. Wow.
Jesus the Super Capitalist slapping the shoplifters trying to steal from the honorable moneylenders. Prosperity gospel isn't Christianity, they're a cult that should be ostracized except they took over the GOP in America. So that sucks.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 10:47 PM on July 17, 2019 [2 favorites]
But. A soul still burns...
Some of the comments in that original post are wild. My favorite was the guy commenting that if you were a Christian and you took advantage of this mistake you were going to hell. Wow.
Jesus the Super Capitalist slapping the shoplifters trying to steal from the honorable moneylenders. Prosperity gospel isn't Christianity, they're a cult that should be ostracized except they took over the GOP in America. So that sucks.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 10:47 PM on July 17, 2019 [2 favorites]
Just a stroll through that thread (I never knew about the cameras thing until now), and... wow. People litigating logical fallacies in a thread isn't something I miss.
posted by Ghidorah at 2:30 AM on July 18, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by Ghidorah at 2:30 AM on July 18, 2019 [10 favorites]
non-prescient comedy timing isn't actually a violation of the guidelines
well maybe it should be
posted by rabbitrabbit at 7:52 AM on July 18, 2019 [13 favorites]
well maybe it should be
posted by rabbitrabbit at 7:52 AM on July 18, 2019 [13 favorites]
We laugh now, but it's not out of the realm of possibility that the 2001 camera debacle was Jeff Bezos's supervillain origin story.
posted by Atom Eyes at 8:39 AM on July 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by Atom Eyes at 8:39 AM on July 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
> Also, someone once flagged this comment from that old thread as "noise" as, they later explained to me, a protest to it gumming up the perfect call-and-response delivery of NortonDC's response to marknau. I was sympathetic but non-prescient comedy timing isn't actually a violation of the guidelines.
quietly checks
homer-backing-into-bush.gif
posted by churl at 10:15 AM on July 18, 2019 [8 favorites]
quietly checks
homer-backing-into-bush.gif
posted by churl at 10:15 AM on July 18, 2019 [8 favorites]
non-prescient comedy timing isn't actually a violation of the guidelines.
I will be submitting a MeTa to address this oversight.
posted by biogeo at 10:22 AM on July 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
I will be submitting a MeTa to address this oversight.
posted by biogeo at 10:22 AM on July 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
So there's a MeFite at Amzn doing some cultural monkeywrenching? This sparks joy.
posted by theora55 at 10:53 AM on July 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by theora55 at 10:53 AM on July 18, 2019 [3 favorites]
Though I may not comment here all that often, I am so delighted to know that when I heard about this snafu this morning, I immediately thought we have cameras, and so did so many other Mefites!
posted by cowboy_sally at 11:07 AM on July 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by cowboy_sally at 11:07 AM on July 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
So there's a MeFite at Amzn doing some cultural monkeywrenching? This sparks joy.
Exactly my hope/wish.
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 12:01 PM on July 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
Exactly my hope/wish.
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 12:01 PM on July 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
So, where talking, same day 18 years ago.
What are the odds?
posted by clavdivs at 3:42 PM on July 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
What are the odds?
posted by clavdivs at 3:42 PM on July 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
While it might not seem like a big deal amazon is a great store but one that's still struggling,
I wonder if they're even still around? Haven't heard much about them lately...
posted by stet at 5:05 PM on July 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
I wonder if they're even still around? Haven't heard much about them lately...
posted by stet at 5:05 PM on July 18, 2019 [4 favorites]
How has it been 18 years since that happened? I feel like that gif of Matt Damon at the end of Saving Private Ryan.
posted by penduluum at 5:49 AM on July 19, 2019
posted by penduluum at 5:49 AM on July 19, 2019
From the original thread:
Ever find something in a pawnshop or thrift store that's an incredible deal and buy it immediately? Ever turn around and sell it on eBay for a huge profit? Heck, there are people who do that for a living now. I know one person who's made thousands of dollars that way and I was inspired enough to give it a try; I raked in several hundred.
They not only do it for a living, they do more or less the same thing for TV shows.
posted by Fukiyama at 7:26 AM on July 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
Ever find something in a pawnshop or thrift store that's an incredible deal and buy it immediately? Ever turn around and sell it on eBay for a huge profit? Heck, there are people who do that for a living now. I know one person who's made thousands of dollars that way and I was inspired enough to give it a try; I raked in several hundred.
They not only do it for a living, they do more or less the same thing for TV shows.
posted by Fukiyama at 7:26 AM on July 19, 2019 [1 favorite]
I was just happy to see my old friend, NortonDC make an appearance in ardgedee's post!
posted by terrapin at 9:46 AM on July 19, 2019
posted by terrapin at 9:46 AM on July 19, 2019
cortex: "I was sympathetic but non-prescient comedy timing isn't actually a violation of the guidelines."
If my memory serves me, to avoid rules lawyering, MetaFilter eschews rules and instead uses guidelines that have a lot more flexibility.
What good is that flexibility if you can't use it? Go ahead, cortex, click that delete button! You know it's been eating up at you for years! Logic clearly dictates that the comedy-timing needs of the many outweigh the posting-history-integrity needs of the few!
posted by Bugbread at 10:14 PM on July 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
If my memory serves me, to avoid rules lawyering, MetaFilter eschews rules and instead uses guidelines that have a lot more flexibility.
What good is that flexibility if you can't use it? Go ahead, cortex, click that delete button! You know it's been eating up at you for years! Logic clearly dictates that the comedy-timing needs of the many outweigh the posting-history-integrity needs of the few!
posted by Bugbread at 10:14 PM on July 22, 2019 [1 favorite]
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
Also, someone once flagged this comment from that old thread as "noise" as, they later explained to me, a protest to it gumming up the perfect call-and-response delivery of NortonDC's response to marknau. I was sympathetic but non-prescient comedy timing isn't actually a violation of the guidelines.
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:23 PM on July 17, 2019 [22 favorites]